Political donations cause headaches for Labor

There is more evidence emerging that the NSW Government has been compromised by political donations, this time with the Transport Workers Union (TWU) in the mix. Not only that, but the donations run both ways, with the NSW government donating more than $700, 000 to the TWU at the same time that the TWU donated more than $746, 000 in suspected taxpayer grants back to the Labour party.
The NSW government has been funding the TWU and its associated organisations over the past six years. The TWU received $660, 000 from the government, while $73, 000 went to Concerned Families of Australian Truckies, an organisation devoted to truck drivers’ safety. The government has denied that the funding was used inappropriately, saying they were used for safety programs.
Political donations to any current government will always compromise that government’s ability to run the state fairly and impartially. Once the government has received any donation, they may no longer be able to make a decision that might impact on the people who donated the money for fear of halting other potential donations.
Such is the modus operandi of the NSW Government. They have received donations from so many people that they will never make a decision that might hurt those people who gave the donations. Simply put, they can no longer be trusted to make impartial decisions on the running of the state, whether it concerns land development, transport, or the unions.
The announcement from Premier Morris Iemma last month that he would ban all political donations is now a mute point. With the opposition stating they would ask the NSW Auditor- General to investigate the links between the funding to the TWU and the donations to the Labor party, and the Greens calling for a royal commission into political donations, the pressure on the government will continue.